THE WALKING DEAD: DARYL DIXON THE BOOK OF CAROL SEASON PREVIEW

A season of triumph and tragedy that fumbles with its emotional core but still creates much worthy of your time.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon The Book of Carol is, let’s be honest, a long and unwieldy title. It’s fantastic that the significance of the return of Melissa McBride to the spin off she previously left, is clear in the title, but the 3 part title is clumsy and, disappointingly, that feel of multiple inputs is reflected in the writing of this second season.

When we left Daryl he was stuck in France and had been befriended by a nun, Isabelle, who tasked Daryl with protecting her nephew Laurent - a 12 year old who much of France believes to be some kind of chosen one - as they travelled with him to “The Nest” at Mont Saint Michel. Daryl was very much determined to keep his promise to return to Carol, and once they reached The Nest, he secured a boat to take him home. Unfortunately, just as he was about to leave France’s shore, Laurent appeared, having followed his new hero Daryl, and leaving Daryl little choice but to stay and return Laurent to his new home.

Whilst this is happening, unbeknownst to Daryl, Carol - the person closest to Daryl, and the one he shared “I love yous” with before he departed America, is worried that Daryl has not returned and has set off to find him.

Thus, season 2 follows both these characters on their separate journeys which will eventually lead them back together. (It’s no great spoiler to say they will meet again in this season.)

It cannot be overstated how utterly wonderful it is to have Melissa McBride back on screen as a lead in this show that was always meant to be hers. McBride has always been hailed by critics and fans alike for her portrayal of the victim to victorious Carol, and she continues her captivating work through this season. There feels to be a renewed energy and passion in McBride’s performance, bringing vitality to a show which, while very watchable, previously felt a bit rudderless.

Of course no journey in The Walking Dead Universe is easy, and Carol faces foes and fights with her usual aplomb. This is Carol at her most bad-ass in a story which addresses the ridiculousness of her ability to cross the world with some lovely tongue-in-cheek touches. Her journey highlights her resourcefulness, determination, wit, and utter devotion to her soulmate Daryl, whilst also exploring the heavy millstone around Carol’s neck, which has weighed her down for much of the main show. We get to see that not only is she physically trying to move on with her life, she’s desperately trying to do the same emotionally. And we all know, Carol dealing with her emotions is the land McBride has most trodden, and so she knows every nuance to play to heartrending effectiveness.

As the season progresses, there is a genuine feel that Carol is processing and moving forward, instead of stuck in the same misery-go-round that she was stuck in on the final few seasons of The Walking Dead. Sadly, the same can’t be said for Daryl.

There has been much talk in promotion of this season of a “changed” Daryl, and in part that’s true. Many fans will certainly be surprised at aspects of his story, but that’s not to say this is some new unfurrowed ground for Daryl. His story feels all too familiar to those who have watched Daryl for the past 12 years. There is also a muddiness to his motives and desires (feeling almost like there are 2 versions of Daryl trying to coexist in one character at once), and very little clarity at the end of it all about what it was all for.

Debate over whether “the end justifying the means” occurs in several storylines in The Book of Carol, but the answer seems clear when it comes to Daryl’s story. A plot which will absolutely put off a swathe of his fans from watching further, for no seeming reward, seems the most self-destructive move for the Daryl Dixon show. There is nothing new we learn about Daryl from it. He doesn’t seem to grow or change in any obvious way, and - as ever with the writing of this complex, honourable man - it feels like we just hit the reset button and start all over again.

And that baffling aspect of Daryl’s tale is particularly a shame when it will likely detract from the Daryl and Carol scenes which eventually come. Though I found it disappointing none of the characters seemed as impressed with Carol’s feat in crossing the ocean and locating Daryl in a massive country as I was, there is still an obvious joy when she and Daryl are on screen together.

McBride and Reedus have buckets of chemistry, and it appears to come as easy as breathing to them, slipping into the characters and their easy comfort with each other, like an old pair of boots. Just seeing them in frame together brings a sense of a deep, restorative breath that all is well in the world again. Whether they are being a perfectly in-sync fighting duo, comforting each other through loss and trauma, or - as Reedus mentioned during promotion - bickering like “an old married couple” (a dynamic so strong that other characters comment on it), they show how connected and comfortable they are with each other. We are left with no doubt how well Daryl and Carol fit together, though the exact nature of that connection is gently teased.

And the Caryl scenes are not the only positive aspects to the 6 episodes. As with the first season, the setting of France is fully utilised in the most beautiful, haunting ways with staggering cinematography and music as we traverse across France. And that world is fleshed out with many well-rounded, interesting and dynamic characters, with the French cast from season 1 particularly outstanding. Eriq Ebuaney gets more screen time as the soulful and strong Fallou, leader in the Union of Hope group who are trying to bring peace and freedom to France. His onscreen presence is only matched by Romain Levi as first seasons’ bad guy Codron.

When we left Codron, he was being dragged away to pay for his betrayal of his leader Genet - the woman who hopes to create a unified France through force - by letting Laurent, Daryl, and Isabelle live, despite the fact he believes Daryl killed his brother. Through season 2 we see how these events shape and change him, and Levi brings a huge amount of vulnerability and depth to a man contemplating everything his life has been, and who he wants to be.

And McBride and Reedus don’t just share sparkling chemistry with each other. Reedus’ paternal chemistry with Louis Puech Scigliuzzi, as Laurent, has deepened over time and creates a genuinely warm bond with the teenager, who does a fantastic job in portraying Laurent’s guileless and earnest serenity.

For her part, McBride has explosively good chemistry with Anne Charrier’s determined dictator Genet, and their scenes together are the ones which most likely live up to the audience’s expectations for the pairing up of these two ferocious female fighters. In the main show Carol had so many scenes with men, it’s wonderful to see her paired with more women in the spin off. Though, of course, she still hits it out of the park with the men in Carol’s life. Newcomer Manish Dayal as Ash, the stranger Carol turns to for help on her journey, brings a calm kindness to their relationship which Carol very much needs.

While, for me, the characters and their arcs is why I watch The Walking Dead, The Book of Carol does also pull off a compelling overall arc, which is gripping but also contemplative on the topic of faith and forgiveness, and keeps the audience on their toes over who exactly they should be rooting against. It also manages to touch on the larger world topics - capitalism, prejudice, class - which the main show failed to address.

The many elements that go into The Book of Carol cover the board from infuriating to fantastic. The action sequences, humour and character interactions come out above and beyond the previous flagship show. And it's wonderful to see Carol's grief over the many losses she has suffered being acknowledged so openly and thoroughly on screen. But then there are these elements which seem to indicate not only does the show not understand its lead character, but also actively wants to chase away a core part of its fan base - along with those who tune in hoping for a connection to the larger Walking Dead Universe.

It’s particularly baffling given showrunner David Zabel’s quotes in a recent SFX interview, where he said that he did not want to use any well-worn “TV book of tricks” - only for him to give viewers a couple of the tropiest tropes of them all, not only in TV generally but in The Walking Dead’s history particularly.

There is a sense we are meant to see Daryl’s time in France as some kind of visit to Neverland, where, the longer the Lost Boys stay there, the more they forget their family at home. But it jars with the totally devoted and deathly loyal Daryl Dixon the audience knows, and it’s hard to see what that kind of Peter Pan-ness would add to Dixon’s earthy, solid character.

Given that season 3’s production has already been announced as moving to Spain, we can only hope Daryl leaves that fairytale world, and like Pan in Hook, remembers truly who he is and what it is he loves.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon The Book of Carol season 2 begins 29 September on AMC+.